Slack-adjuster.



w. .H. SAUVAGE.- SLACK ADJUSTER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25 I916.

Patented May 29, 1917.

1&975961 JJJ Mame/44 UNTTED %TATE% PATENT @FFTCE.

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, OF FLUSHING, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GOULD COUPLERCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OI NEW YORK.

SLACK-ADJUSTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 191?.

Application filed January 25, 1916. Serial No. 74,197.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, citizen of the United States,and resident of Flushing, in the county of Queens and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slack-Adjusters,

' which the folowing is a specification.

This invention relates to slack adjusters and more particularly toautomatic slack adjusters for the brake rigging of railway trucks.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple andpractical slack adjuster mechanism adapted for use on trucks of standardmake which will be reliable and efficient in use and operation. Afurther object is to provide a slack adjuster of the above mentionedtype having few parts which will be cheap to manufacture and install. Afurther object is to provide an automatic slack adjuster adapted topermit uniform piston travel and proper brake shoe clearance under allconditions.

Other objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawings and inpart indicated in connection therewith by the following analysis of thisinvention.

This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of parts and in the unique relations of the members and inthe. relative proportioning and disposition thereof, all as morecompletely outlined herein.

To enable others skilled in the art so fully to comprehend theunderlying features thereof that they may embody the same by thenumerous modifications in structure and relation contemplated by thisinvention, drawings depicting a preferred form have been annexed as apart of this disclosure, and in such drawings, like characters ofreference denotecorresponding parts throughout all the views, in which-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railway truck together with its brakerigging in applied position showing suflicient parts of both to fullyunderstand the present invention, certain parts also shown in section orbroken away for the sake of clearance.

Figs. 2 and 3 are detail views of certain parts of the slack adjustermechanism.

Fig. 1 is a detail sectional view showing tha lost motion connection ofthe adjusting ro Referring now to the drawing in detail and moreparticularly to Fig. 1, 5 denotes a truck bolster to one side of whichis pivotally supported a dead lever hanger 6 carrying a depending deadlever 7. The lower end of this lever is pivotally connected with a brakebeam strut 8 at the point 10. At the opposite side of the bolster ispositioned a live lever 11 the upper end of which is con nected at thepoint 12 with a pull rod 13 eX- tending back over the top of the bolsterto the brake actuating mechanism. The lower end of the live lever 11 haspivotally connected therewith at the point 14 a brake beam strut 9similar to the strut 8. Both of these struts have associated therewiththe usual brake beams carrying brake shoes, that is of course if thetruck is of the beam type.

A temporary take up and holding mechanism or adjusting mechanismispreferably interposed between the brake beam struts for the purpose oftaking up and registering the excess travel due to wear of the parts.This mechanism comprises supports 15' on the under side of the brakebeams, and a pair of relatively flat L-shaped links 16 and 17 providedat their upper ends 18 and 19 with elongated lost motion slots 20 wherethey are pivoted loosely to said supports 15 for maintainingpredetermined brake shoe clearance and permitting slight angularmovement.

The lower ends of these links are provided with registering slots 21through which a friction clamp device 22, Fig. 3, is adapted to pass.This friction clamp device will permit relative sliding movement of thelinks with respect to each other in both clirections if occasion demandsyet normally the relative sliding movement takes place in one directiononly as when the excess travel of the rigging occurs. This frictionclamp device may be of any desired type but a device comprising a bolt22 with washers 24L engaging the outer surfaces of the links and held inyielding engagement therewith by means of a volute spring 25 suitablysupported at its opposite side against the bolt head 26 as shown will befound to give very efficient results.

Connecting the lever fulcrums is a permanent take up and holding devicewhich in the present case comprises two telescopic members 30 and 31,the latter of which is preferably in the form of a hollow castingprovided with a housing 32 containing one or more dogs 33 held in cantedposition by means of spring 34. These dogs are so positioned andarranged as to permit expansion of the telescopic push rod butpositively prevent an inward movement thereof when the brakes areapplied. This permanent take u 3 and holding device is preferablylocatec above the spring plank 35 and between the springs, not shown,interposed between the plank and the bolster.

Suitable return spring mechanism is preferably associated with the livelever substantially as shown in order to return the parts to full normalposition. As herein shown a spring 36 may be coiled about the pull rod13 abutting a stop 29 on the bolster and react against the upper end ofthe live lever to return the parts to normal position when the brakingpower is released.

This device operates substantially as follows: An application of thebraking power will cause a movement of the pull rod 13 and upper end ofthe live lever 11 toward the left which movement will carry the brakeshoe associated with the live and dead levers into proper and eiiicientengagement with the peripheries of the respective wheels. If excesstravel takes place, there will be a relative slipping of the frictionclamp 22 with respect to the links 16 and 17 thereby permitting thebrake beam struts to separate still farther or a distance greater thanthat allowed by the predetermined brake shoe clearance slots at the ends18 and 19 of the links. On release of the braking power the releasespring 36 will first act to carry the-shoes out of engagement with thewheels by reason of the lost motion con- 1 nections with the supports 15after which further relative movement of the lower ends of the leversistemporarily prevented. The points 10 and 14 then act as fulcrums aboutwhich the live and dead levers will turn to cause the permanent take upand holding device to expand as the rod 30 slides freely through theholding dog 33.

This operation is repeated from time to time as wear of the parts takesplace and as the points of connection between the levers and theirrespective struts gradually separate, the upper end of the live leverwill c011- tinue to move in a uniform path of travel thus insuringconstant and uniform piston action. l/Vhen it is necessary to replacethe worn brake shoes, the holding dogs are released preferably by meansof an unlocking handle 37 which is provided with intervening connections(not shown) extending to the side of the truck, to move the dogs tovertical position. Then by inserting a bar bet-ween the brake shoes andperipheries of the wheels, the rigging may be forced back to itsoriglnalposition, and new shoes substituted,

then an application of the brakes will bring the parts to a properlyadjusted position without further manipulation.

It is thus seen that the present invention is particularly adapted forthat type of brakes in which the brake shoes or beams are supported atthe lower ends of the live and dead levers. The mechanism is simple andpractical in construction and comprises relatively few parts which maybe easily and quickly substituted for the corresponding parts now inoperation or applied to the brake rigging where no corresponding partsexist. in fact, the invention is believed to accomplish, among others,all of the numerous objects and advantages herein set forth.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthis invention that others can by applying current knowl-' edge readilyadapt it for various applications without omitting certain featuresthat, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constituteessentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects ofthis invention, andtherefore such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehendedwithin the meaning and range of equivalency of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a slack adjuster, in combination, live and dead levers, permanenttake up and holding means connecting the central parts of said levers,brake beams supporting said levers and temporary take up and holdingdevices connecting said brake beams comprising a pair of links one ofwhich has a lost motion connection at its point of support to insurebrake shoe clearance and a yielding friction clamp connecting said linksadapted to permit relative movement of the links to temporarily take upand hold the excess travel of the brake rigging.

2. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, apermanent take up and holding device connecting said levers near theircentral parts, and temporary take up and holding devices connecting saidlevers near their lower ends, said temporary take up and holding devicecomprising a pair of links having a yielding frictional rod connectingtheir central parts, brake beam struts carried at their lower parts, andadjusting mechanism connecting said struts, said adjusting mechanismcomprising a pair of relatively flat links having registering slots intheir adjacent ends, and a friction device passing through said slots.

5. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, atelscopic push rod connecting their central parts, brake beam strutscarried at their lower parts, and adjusting mechanism connecting saidstruts, said adjusting mechanism comprising a pair of relatively flatlinks having registering slots in their adjacent ends, and a bolt passing through said slots carrying friction members held in yieldingengagement with. the outer sides of said links.

6. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck bolster, a live lever atone side thereof, an actuating mechanism connected with said live lever,a dead lever pivotally supported at the opposite side of said bolster,an extensible push rod connecting the central portions of said levers,and an adjusting device connecting the lower ends of said levers.

7. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck bolster, a live lever atone side thereof, an actuating mechanism connected with said live lever,a dead lever pivotally supported at the opposite side of said bolster,an extensible push rod connecting the central portions of said levers,brake beam struts at the lower ends of said levers, links pivotallymounted on said struts and having a frictional connection with eachother adapted to temporarily take up and hold the excess travel of thebrake rigging.

8. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck bolster, a live lever atone side thereof, an actuating mechanism connected with said live lever,a dead lever pivotally supported at the opposite side of said bolster,an extensible push rod connecting the central portions of said levers,brake beam struts at the lower ends of said levers, a pair of relativelyfiat L-shaped links loosely connected respectively at their upper endswith said struts, a lost motion device associated with one of the pointsof connection, and yielding friction device engaging the links adjacenta point of contact.

9. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck bolster, a live lever atone side therof, an actuating mechanism connected with said live leverpassing across said bolster, a dead lever pivotally supported at the oposite side of said bolster, an extensible pus rod connecting the centralportions of said levers, brake beam struts at the lower ends of saidlevers, a pair of relatively flat L-shaped links connected respectivelyat their upper ends with said struts, said links having registeringelongated slots, a bolt passing through said slots and friction meansassociated with said bolt near the sides of said links adapted normallyto permit relatively sliding movement in one direction only.

10. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever,actuating mechanism connected with the upper end of the live lever, atwo part telescopic push rod connecting the central parts of saidlevers, permanent take up and holding means operating between theeffective ends of the two members of said push bar adapted topermanently take up and hold the excess travel of the brake rigging dueto wear of the parts, and yielding friction adjusting means connectingthe lower ends of said levers.

11. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a car bolster, adead lever supported from said car bolster, actuating mechanismconnected with the upper end of the live lever, a two part push rodconnecting the central parts of said levers, permanent take up andholding means operating between the effective ends of the two members ofsaid push bar adapted to permanently take up and hold the excess travelof the brake rigging due to wear of the parts, struts at the lower endsof said levers, and adjusting means connecting said struts having lostmotion connections therewith adapted to permit predetermined brake shoeclearance.

12. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a car bolster, adead lever supported from said car bolster, actuating mechanismconnected with the upper end of the live lever, a two part push rodconnecting the central parts of said levers, permanent take up andholding means operating between the effective ends of the two parts ofsaid push rod adapted to perms, nently take up and hold the excesstravel of the brake rigging, struts at the lower ends of. said levers,and adjusting means connecting said struts having lost motion connections therewith adapted to permit predetermined brake shoe clearance,and a yielding friction clamp device associated with said adjustingdevice adapted to permit relative movement of the links.

13. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck having a bolster, adead lever pivotally supported from its upper end from said bolster, abrake beam pivotally connected with the dead lever at its lower end, alive lever connected at its upper end with an actuating member leadingfrom the bolster to the power cylinder, a brake beam pivotally connectedto the live lever at its lower end, a two-part extensible push rodconnecting said levers near their central parts, permanent take up andholding means acting between the eflective ends of said two-part rod anda temporary take up end of the live lever a stop on said truck framethrough which said pull rod passes a return spring acting between saidstop and the live lever adapted to aid in restoring the parts to normalposition on release 01 the brakes, a permanent take up and holdingmechanism, and a temporary take up and holding mechanism positionedsubstantially parallel with each other positioned at opposite sides ofthe spring plank of the truck frame.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this16th day of December A. D. 1915.

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

